"Cyclone's comin', Em"

[altivo]

But it won't blow us to Oz. More likely we'll end up in Toronto or something. NOAA is predicting the second worst cyclonic storm here in the upper midwest since their records began. The depth of the low pressure zone at the middle of the thing was exceeded only by the Ohio blizzard of January, 1978. I remember that one, because it buried Chicago in snow too, and I was living near the lakefront at that time so lake effect multiplied the load. The intensity of the storm is expected to exceed that of the Great Blizzard (1913, also called the White Hurricane) as well as the strength of the storm that sank the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior in 1975. We shall see.

It won't be snow if it hits, just lots of wind with rain squalls or thunderstorms. The duration will be like a hurricane, 36 to 48 hours. Wind gusts to 55 or 60 mph are possible, they say, with continuous background gale force winds. We get storms like that most fall seasons, where the wind roars for 24 hours or so. Power outages are typically the worst damage. So we ran around this evening just before sunset to lock down anything likely to blow away. Gary put cinder blocks on the roof of the duck house, as that has sometimes blown off in the past. We chained the barn doors shut, put extra tarps over the firewood supply, and checked our emergency generator to make sure it starts and runs. The storm is supposed to get here between midnight and dawn.

Of course, when you feel confident that you are prepared, the whole thing is likely to turn into a false alarm, isn't it? The domestic animals seem unbothered about it all, but I could swear that the squirrels and birds are acting apprehensive.

Since we don't watch (don't even receive any more) television here, we are missing the worst of the election campaign garbage. I still laughed to hear on the radio this morning that someone on the Democratic side called the Republican candidate for governor a "racist homophobe," because as far as I can tell, he certainly is that. Of course, the Democratic candidate is just a moron who accidentally fell into the office when they arrested his crooked predecessor and took him away. I'll definitely be voting for the Green Party candidate this time. Neither of the two big party guys deserve my vote.

And that's the news from the predicted storm path...

Comments

Pressed duck?

[casey382]

Cinder blocks on the roof of the duck house? Hope everything weathers this storm alright.

Re: Pressed duck?

[altivo]

No ducks were pressed last time. The roof is just a sheet of 1/2 in. plywood held down by screen door hooks. If the wind catches it just right, it pulls the hooks out and the roof sails away, or at least, lands in the middle of the dog yard. The extra weight helps to prevent this from happening.

[hrrunka]

I hope nothing vital blows down or blows away, but maybe the storm will remove some of those political signs you were mentioning a few days back...

[altivo]

As happens too often these days, the media hype was so exaggerated that the actual storm amounted to nothing more than a sneeze. Cloud formations were fantastic, but other than that, blah. A spatter of sudden rain, a wimpy gust of wind, and the sun came out. Then the radionic idiots were all "See, we survived it, isn't it so wonderful that we warned everyone about it?" Grrr.

There was indeed an intense low at the heart of it, and some tornado warnings were triggered but no serious damage has been reported other than a few vehicles losing control in the wind. That happens every time there's a thunderstorm here.

They're still hyping about "powerful winds" but with the loudmouth politicians around here and an election just days away, I suspect more is coming out of their mouths than from this entire storm. Too bad it didn't blow all of them away so we could get a clean start.

[hrrunka]

...so wonderful...

...instead of apologising for getting it wrong and over-blowing the whole thing. Keep that up, and one day they'll get it right and folks will have learned not to bother believing them...

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

I read some storm damage reports on WLS's website, and the line looked pretty bad in southern Indiana where there was a lot of tornado warnings. So I was surprised when the squall line mostly fizzled when it got to Ann Arbor/Flint and eastward. It's pretty windy out now, though.

[altivo]

Yep, it looks as if the storms hadn't really developed when they passed us here, and the worst was all farther south along the front as it traveled eastward. All we saw was a spray of rain (probably less than a half inch) and very little lightning or wind as the front passed. Behind it there have been some stiff and gusty winds, but nothing like what they told us to expect (70 mph gusts?)

Judging by what I saw on the radar about noon, though, Indiana and Ohio may well have seen some pretty bad storm damage. By then the sun was shining here, though it was still windy. Now it has clouded up again and is drizzling occasionally, with a strong southerly wind blowing it horizontally. The temperature definitely dropped with the barometer, just like a real winter blizzard. I think it's below 50F outside now.

There are blizzard warnings in North Dakota, presumably related to the same low pressure system. I imagine they got northeasterly winds bringing cold out of Canada to crash into the moisture. Glad I'm not there.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Not to Oz? awww I was looking forward to having a horsey neighbour. Hmm would cabling down the duck house roof be better? Luckilly our home has every second tile anchored, I forget which cyclone rating that's for, but the roof is showing it's age and it could really use fixing.

Sorry your local candidates aren't much cop, we had one who didn't think receiving a kickback from a private company was wrong. Still he got booted from his party, he ran as an independent but got slaughtered in the last election.

[altivo]

U.S. voters don't seem to care if their candidates take bribes or worse, as long as they support the right hot button issue. More and more, I think people here are so disinterested in politics that the only reason they vote at all is when the election is turned into a single issue debate. The usual issue that gets them riled up enough to bother is likely to be something simpleminded that they can think of in absolute terms, like should abortion be allowed, or should gays be allowed to get married. Complicated things like banking regulations or health care just confuse them, so they try to simplify it down too much and end up making bad choices or none at all.

Obama got voted in because they said they wanted "a change." Well, they sort of got one. But now they're mad because he changed things. I agree that the so-called health care plan is a total sham and will be worthless, but most people are mad that his administration did anything at all. That's how short their thinking is. They ask for something (it was one of his largest campaign issues) and then when they get it, they don't want it. Stupid morons, every one of them.